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UTLA fasts for justice UTLA supports the Los Angeles Fast for Families in calling on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Labor, civic, business and religious leaders today announced a 24-hour fast in solidarity with the national effort for immigration reform. UTLA/AFT Vice President Betty Forrester and UTLA Elementary Vice President Juan Ramirez took the pledge to fast. Forrester said, “Our students, their families and our communities should not live in fear or be torn apart through deportation. We are in classrooms every day giving hope for a better future.” UTLA’s House of Representatives, the union’s governing body, passed a motion last spring in support of immigration reform. The union encourages its members to support the immigrant community in this important fight. ###

Thirsty for some COLA UTLA will hold a rally for raises on Wednesday, November 13th, at LAUSD headquarters, 333 S. Beaudry, Los Angeles, at 4 p.m. Teachers and Health and Human Services Professionals have not had a raise in nearly seven years. Now that Proposition 30 money is rolling into the District, educators need to be compensated for the years they held the District together. UTLA members were laid off, furloughed and expected to do more with less. As educators, we put the needs of our students first. That means we are fighting for smaller class sizes and fully staffed schools with a school nurse, librarian and other HHS professionals at each school, but salaries are also important. The cost of living continues to soar and without fair compensation, we fear educators will leave the profession or go to a higher-paying school district.

Deasy's contract gets extended UTLA issued the following statement in reaction to the LAUSD Boaard of Education’s decision to extend the Superintendent’s contract. “It is unbelievable that the Board of Education has given John Deasy a ‘satisfactory’ evaluation and rewarded him by extending his contract through June, 2016, despite a clear message from LA’s teachers and health and human services professionals that Deasy’s leadership is anything but satisfactory,” said UTLA President Warren Fletcher. In April, 91% percent of 17,500 UTLA members polled found “no confidence” in Deasy’s leadership. And in a 25-question in-depth survey that followed, teachers and HHS professionals gave Deasy failing grades across the board. One issue of particular concern was employee morale.

Supt. John Deasy reportedly to resign UTLA issued the following statement in reaction to the news that LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy plans to resign in February. “It is no secret that UTLA has had major concerns with John Deasy’s leadership. Nonetheless the future of LAUSD is not about one man. The challenge going forward is to make sure students and schools get the resources they so badly need after five punishing years of recession. UTLA believes new leadership at LAUSD holds the potential to make that happen,” said UTLA President Warren Fletcher. UTLA members have made it clear that Deasy’s leadership was not taking the District in the right direction. In April, 91% percent of 17,500 members polled found “no confidence” in his leadership. We later conducted an in-depth member-wide survey, and the Superintendent scored just 1.4 on a scale of 1-to-5.

District fails to provide UTLA with complete document UTLA met with District officials last month and expressed our concerns about the grant proposal. The District did not collaborate with UTLA and in fact President Warren Fletcher only received a revised proposal the day before the deadline. Pages were not numbered in this thick document and appendixes were missing. There was nothing to indicate what, if any, changes had been made. Among UTLA's concerns: while the grant would be for four years, funding for additional counselors is for just two years. After the two years, how would those counselor positions be funded? Schools would have to choose between counselors and other key positions such as a school nurse or school librarian.

UTLA: defunding the substitute budget is not the answer UTLA issued the following statement in reaction to the District's plan to use the substitute teacher budget to fund the Physical Education Incentive Program. UTLA supports funding physical education as a first step, but we have a long way to go when many secondary P.E. classes still have 60-70 or more students. We are concerned about this plan because defunding any part of the substitute budget endangers the continuity of instruction at every district school. The district must find a way to fund physical education and ensure a qualified substitute is available in any classroom when the full time teacher is absent.

Aquino calls it quits UTLA issued the following statement in reaction to the resignation of LAUSD Deputy Superintendent Jaime Aquino. UTLA sees this change in senior LAUSD management as an opportunity for all of us to revisit the instructional direction of the District. UTLA President Warren Fletcher said, “the ‘new policy environment’ cited by Superintendent Deasy as the reason for Dr. Aquino’s departure, is, in fact, an acknowledgement by the School Board that, when parents and the community of LAUSD made their voices heard through the democratic process in the March and May elections, those parents and community clearly rejected the testing-centric, bureaucratic top-down model of education championed by Dr. Aquino.”

PERB Filing UTLA will hold a news conference at 1p.m., Thursday, September 5th, at UTLA, 3303 Wilshire Blvd, LA, 90010 — to discuss the filing of two unfair labor practice charges against LAUSD. In violation of the Educational Employment Relations Act, the District and Superintendent Deasy retaliated against a dozen UTLA teachers, resulting in displacements and financial hardships for the teachers and on-campus disruptions for students. These violations occurred at Crenshaw High and City of Angels School. UTLA President Warren Fletcher will discuss the charges which are being filed with the Public Employment Relations Board tomorrow and the teachers named in the filings will tell their stories. Media should check in with security in the first floor lobby. ###

The results are in ... UTLA today issued the results of a member-wide performance review of Superintendent John Deasy. LAUSD teachers and health and human services professionals evaluated the Superintendent in a 25 question survey and on every question, the vast majority of survey takers found John Deasy’s performance either “below average” or “poor.” UTLA President Warren Fletcher said, “We believe the people directly impacted by the Superintendent’s decisions and management style are in the best position to evaluate his work. That’s why UTLA asked teachers and health and human services professionals to complete the survey.” UTLA will share the results with LAUSD’s Board of Education. The lowest score was for morale and spending money wisely.

Apple contract pending Board approval UTLA is calling on LAUSD’s Board of Education to delay a vote that would award a $30 million dollar contract to Apple for the purchase of iPads for students. The board is set to vote on the contract at Tuesday’s school board meeting. As first reported by LA Times columnist Steve Lopez, Superintendent John Deasy appeared as a pitchman in an Apple promotional video early last year. In his piece Lopez wrote, “…he’d be better off not serving as a pitchman for any product.” UTLA agrees. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP8yTsQLK_w&feature=youtu.be